Everyone knows the lyric’s to Edwin Star’s classic War (What Is It Good For) War/ Huh/ Yeah/ What is it good for/ Absolutely Nothing. This may not be strictly true as Warbringer have taken their musical and lyrical influence from wartime and have done now for 3 full albums.

The main focus here is on the brutal assault of the ears with their violent brand of thrash metal. Most songs on the album are blisteringly heavy and fast, but with no two songs ever sounding exactly the same, there is enough variety here to keep the fans banging their heads well after the first play. With tracks such as Living Weapon and Wake Up… Destroy being two good example of the more heavy side, they literally pour energy into the listener’s ears.

James Merrett

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Considering that everyone is fetching their tight jeans, denim jackets and Basketball sneakers from their dusty closets to fully engage in a shameless worship of the current revival of Thrash Metal, I fell tempted to presume that these five youngsters from sunny California, who have barely graduated from high school have also jumped on the bandwagon. Their debut full-length “War without End” remounts back to a time when solos were cracking at the beginning of the songs, guitars had a relentless aggression and words were spewed against social-political doctrines, yeah to OLD SCHOOL THRASH METAL! Well, to tell the truth I really don’t give a damn if Warbringer have traded off their O’Neill surfboards for Jackson guitars to capitalize on the recent wave of Thrash Metal adulation ‘cause they do possess some great songs in their arsenal, capable of arousing some serious havoc and when it’s done with such savagery and consistency we just have to sit down and pay attention. Pardon me, but sitting down is something that won’t occur while “Total War” blasts from the speakers. Its Slayer-driven speed intertwined with the mosh-pit fury of Exodus and the barked roars of vocalist John Kevill obliges you to raise your fist in the air and head-bang like a maniac wrestler on steroids. None of the band’s members were born when “Bonded By Blood” and “Reign In Blood” were originally released in the 80’s, but they’ve definitely spent an infancy nurtured with such classic works since “War Without End” regurgitates everything former/present glories like Slayer and Exodus were/are renowned for. It’s raw, aggressive, catchy (gosh, the memorable “Systematic Genocide” sounds like Sepultura’s “Beneath the Remains”), technical and venomous.
Of course it isn’t exactly original or groundbreaking, but it’s not the point either since Warbringer don’t pretend to be anything else than a good Thrash Metal band, which is exactly what it’s achieved with merit. (6/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/warbringer
Label info: www.centurymedia.com

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